A former MARTA dispatcher is awaiting the outcome of a federal discrimination complaint against the transit agency, which is accused of ignoring her reports of sexual harassment and intimidation by a fellow employee.
“I was discriminated against based upon my sex [female] and race [Caucasian] and sexually harassed and retaliated against for lodging a complaint of sexual harassment,” the dispatcher told the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a complaint.
According to documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News, the dispatcher, who is white, said she not only had to deal with a black co-worker allegedly exposing himself to her, but other black co-workers lashed out at her for complaining to MARTA management and to the authorities.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution does not identify the victims of alleged sexual behavior. The male employee, who also is not being identified, has not been criminally charged.
The dispatcher said she worked for MARTA from August 2008 until she said a "hostile environment" in the workplace forced her to resign in February 2011. She filed the EEOC complaint in March 2011. The EEOC has not ruled on the case and does not comment on pending cases.
The woman’s Atlanta attorney, Lisa Millican, said Wednesday the dispatcher also plans to file a lawsuit against MARTA even if the EEOC does not rule in her favor and issue a “right-to-sue” declaration.
MARTA spokesman Lyle Harris said Wednesday the agency would not comment on any pending or future litigation against the agency. Harris confirmed that the male worker is still employed at MARTA.
The dispatcher said the male co-worker exposed himself on Nov. 13, 2010. In her EEOC complaint, the woman said she was working in her MARTA office when the male co-worker came in “sat down, pulled his penis out of his pants and began masturbating.” The woman said she told the man to stop.
A MARTA police incident report stated the woman left the office and the man followed her to a restroom. She then went to a break room “to get away from him.” She told police she was afraid to tell anyone immediately because she was afraid the man would harm her.
The dispatcher waited until the man left work and she said she reported the incident to MARTA management, MARTA police and the Fulton County police.
Harris, the MARTA spokesman, said the agency's records show the dispatcher requested mediation when a MARTA detective asked whether she wanted to file charges. Millican, the woman’s attorney, said the dispatcher wanted the man arrested, but the case was referred to mediation instead. She and the male co-worker appeared in Fulton County Magistrate’s Court on Dec. 9, 2010.
During mediation, Millican said the male co-worker agreed to several conditions, including receiving counseling and seeking a transfer to another work area. After mediation, the dispatcher still wanted the male co-worker arrested but a magistrate judge denied the request, Millican said.
In a letter to the male employee in January 2011, MARTA acknowledged the worker had “displayed inappropriate behavior” toward the dispatcher.
The letter from the agency’s Diversity & Equal Opportunity office said disciplinary action had been recommended in accordance with the agency’s “sexual harassment/sexual gestures” policy. The letter, however, did not disclose what action would be taken.
The letter to the male employee closed by saying the inquiry had been concluded, and it added: “You are a valued employee and this office wishes you continued success in your career with MARTA.”
A copy of the letter was sent to the executive director of diversity and equal opportunity and the agency’s attorneys, and a copy was put in the DEO file.
The woman said she ended up working in the same area with the man again after mediation and soon was the target of rumors and verbal and physical intimidation by other black MARTA co-workers. She said she complained to MARTA management again in January 2011 but the agency did not respond. She left the agency in February 2011 and filed the EEOC complaint a month later.
Millican said others at the agency have complained about the male co-worker. She said a supervisor told her the man had recently returned to the agency after being suspended for attacking another female worker when he allegedly exposed himself to her client.
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